Mercury drops marginally in north

With cold wave sweeping across north India, mercury dropped by a few notches in most parts while Kashmir reeled under freezing conditions.
In the national capital, it was a pleasant day though the mercury dipped marginally. The maximum temperature in Delhi settled one notch above normal at 24.3 degrees Celsius, less than yesterday's 25.2 degrees.
The minimum went down from yesterday's 10.5 degrees to 9.7 degrees Celsius, the MeT department said.
In Jammu and Kashmir, minimum temperatures fell below the freezing point in most places, including summer capital Srinagar, after a day's respite from the winter chill. Kargil continued to be the coldest recorded place in the state.

Night temperature in Kargil registered a dip of over three degrees to settle at minus 18.4 degrees Celsius while Leh recorded a low of minus 13.7 degrees Celsius compared to minus 8.8 degrees Celsius the previous night.
The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 1 degree Celsius, one notch below normal for this part of the season. Srinagar recorded a low of 1.5 degrees yesterday.

Pahalgam hill resort in south was the coldest recorded place in Kashmir with a minimum of minus 9 degrees Celsius, down by 2.6 degrees compared to the previous night. North Kashmir's famous ski resort of Gulmarg marked slight rise in the night temperature which settled at minus 7.2 degrees compared to minus 7.8 degrees Celsius the previous night.

Meanwhile, with northerly cold winds sweeping across Rajasthan, mercury fell in most parts of the state and Churu recorded the lowest temperature at 6.4 degrees Celsius.
Mercury dipped by one to three degrees at most places in the state due to arrival of fresh cold winds. Sriganganagar recorded a minimum of 6.7 degrees while Bikaner and Pilani registered their lowest at 8.4 and 8.5 degrees, respectively.
Mount Abu on hills recorded a low of 7 degrees Celsius.
Minimum temperatures, which hovered around normal levels in the past few days, dropped by up to four degrees in some parts of Punjab and Haryana today.

Amritsar was coldest in the plains of Punjab and Haryana recording a minimum temperature of 4.2 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal. Karnal in Haryana settled at a low of 5 degrees, four notches below normal.
Among other places, Hisar had a low of 7 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal, followed by 7.7 degrees in Ludhiana, and 8.5 in Patiala. Chandigarh's minimum stood at 8.6 degrees.